NY Attorney General To Sue Over GOP Healthcare Legislation

AG Eric Schneiderman’s office said it has identified “multiple constitutional defects” with the Republican healthcare bills.

REUTERS

July 18, 2017

(Reuters) — New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman intends to sue the federal government if Republican lawmakers pass proposed legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, his office said on Monday.

Schneiderman’s office said it has identified “multiple constitutional defects” with the Republican healthcare bills.

The U.S. Senate is considering legislation to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, commonly known as Obamacare.

However, eight to 10 Republican U.S. senators have serious concerns about the proposals, moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who opposes the bill, said on Sunday.

Democratic state attorneys general have become a major source of opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies, having successfully forced him to significantly scale back his Muslim ban.

A group of Democrats led by Schneiderman and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra earlier this year sought to intervene in a pending lawsuit in order to defend subsidies paid to health insurers under Obamacare. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has not yet ruled on that request.

Among the Republican proposals that raise constitutional issues are one that would defund the Planned Parenthood health group for a year, and another that would shift some Medicaid costs in New York from counties to the state, known as the Collins-Faso amendment, said Amy Spitalnick, a Schneiderman spokeswoman.

Critics of the latter provision say it would drastically increase costs in the state budget for the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor and disabled.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit threat. A representative for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell could not immediately be reached for comment.

2 comments

Liberals? The Republican commander in chief, President Trump, has used the courts to avoid the sprit of the law by forcing thousands of customers, contractors and investors to sue him, rather than just paying them what he owed.